News & Events

The University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) has released an updated version of the 4 Dimensions of Instructional Leadership. Describing the most important aspects of instructional leadership in more detail and clarity, this refined version of the framework helps school leaders better identify areas for instructional improvement and focus their time and energy on academic achievement for all students.

Version 2.0 incorporates feedback from educators using the 4D™ framework in their daily instructional practice and reflects CEL’s experience from working with school districts across the nation. CEL experts also reviewed current research published by the Wallace Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

The San Diego County Office of Education - Learning and Leadership Services Division has partnered with the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership to offer a two-day Effective Feedback for Teacher Growth Institute.

This is a specialized Leadership Institute designed to address the needs of school leaders in implementing structures and processes for providing teacher feedback and growth through an inquiry stance. The Institute supports principals, teachers and central office leaders in developing the skills and tools for strengthening teaching practice through a collaborative feedback process that results in the improvement of student learning. ​Districts are also encouraged to send teams that include principals, teachers and a central office leader who supervises principals​​.

As a result of the Institute:

​Participants will learn how to develop and provide feedback through collaborative processes based upon identified learning needs/goals

The content will introduce formative and targeted feedback structures designed to support teacher growth of instructional practice to increase student learning

One of the most significant roles – and biggest challenges – of a school leader is to create and maintain a results-focused learning environment. Schools and school districts are facing initiative overload. It takes determined leadership and clear communication to deal with the implementation of higher academic standards, new evaluation systems and other demands on school leaders’ time and efforts. Creating and maintaining a results-focused learning environment is more important than ever to raise student achievement and to eliminate achievement gaps.

In this third webinar on the 4 Dimensions of Instructional Leadership™, school leaders learn how to establish rigorous expectations for every student while responding to individual student’s needs as well as the diversity of students in the school by creating effective systems of collaboration.

Starting this month, Oregon education reform organization The Chalkboard Project is embarking on a new initiative that will bring leadership training to 71 school administrators responsible for 41 percent of Oregon’s K-12 students.

Beginning in 2015, a coalition of research and education institutions will launch a large-scale, randomized controlled trial evaluation of principal professional development funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

The rigorous evaluation will provide evidence on the effectiveness of principal professional development and practical guidance to policymakers, states and school districts.

Mathematica Policy Research will conduct the evaluation with its study team partners American Institutes for Research, Social Policy Research Associates, and Pemberton Research under U.S. Department of Education contract number ED-IES-14-C-0028.

School leaders must have a clear idea of what good instruction should look like. In addition, instructional leaders need to know why they make certain instructional decisions over others in order to have a lasting impact.

This second installment of our webinar series on the 4 Dimensions of Instructional Leadership™, helps school leaders understand why it is so important to have a rationale behind the strategies they choose and how to help school staff articulate the thinking behind their decisions.

That is the question over 60 principals, principal supervisors, and other central office leaders from across the country came to discuss and learn about at last week’s Leading for Effective Teaching meeting in Denver. The meeting, part of the Leading for Effective Teaching Project that CEL is leading with generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, included participants from 13 districts and charter management organizations (see box).

In presentations and break out sessions, CEL staff established the basics of a successful coaching partnership between principal supervisor and principal and highlighted some of the newest project findings. In a next step, participants put theory into action and observed Denver Public School instructional superintendents, the school system's prinicpal supervisors, coaching principals in schools.

Helping educators understand what good teaching looks like is at the heart of all our efforts to improve instruction. That’s why we are excited to offer 5D+™ Stage II Online Training, a new convenient learning tool for principals, principal supervisors and teacher leaders.

5D+ Stage II Online Training develops and deepens learners’ knowledge of CEL’s instructional framework, teacher evaluation rubric, and inquiry cycle. 5D+ Stage I Online Training introduced participants to the Classroom Environment & Culture dimension of the framework and rubric as well as the 5D+ Inquiry Cycle. 5D+ Stage II Online Training provides learners an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of each of the remaining four dimensions. To get the most out of the new Stage I online training, learners should have completed Stage I, either online or in person.

Over the past few years, the Rapides Foundation and its local education fund, the Orchard Foundation, have worked with the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) to help emerging and current instructional leaders in central Louisiana learn how to recognize highly effective practices within the classroom, and how to coach other educators to implement those practices.

The foundation's recently published 2013 annual report and video highlights this professional development work and gives some educators the chance to talk about their experience. One example: in school districts like Allen and Grant parishes, teachers conduct peer observations to learn from one another and students are engaged in the learning process. "It has helped teachers feel like they have more support. If they are struggling they can say ‘I need help’ and they will get help. They don’t feel isolated," said Rebecca Reeder, elementary supervisor for the Grant Parish School District.